Why It May Take Madison Square Garden 10 Years To Reclaim Title Of World's Greatest Music Venue

Jesse Lawrence
, ContributorI cover the business and emotion of the ticket marketOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Until 1957, Brooklyn and New York had one of the best rivalries in all of sports. Principally driven by the Yankees and the Dodgers, the boroughs fought like brothers looking to impress their parent city. With the exception of 1955, the Yankees always won, and then in 1957, as if they’d had enough, the Dodgers moved west. For two generations, the rivalry lay dormant until the Nets brought back professional sports to Brooklyn last year. With last week’s release of Billboard magazines top grossing music venues for 2013, the rivalry has moved beyond the teams to the venues themselves.

According to Billboard, between November 2012 and May 2013, Barclays Center grossed $46.9 million in ticket revenue compared to Madison Square Garden’s $39.5 million. That made Barclays the highest grossing music venue in the United States, a position perennially occupied by The Garden. While Jay-Z’s eight-night opening stand certainly helped, even without the owner’s help, it’s clear that Flatbush has become a viable alternative to Broadway. For their upcoming tour, Pearl Jam, a perennial Garden act, has chosen Brooklyn over Manhattan and it seems that fans are excited about a change of scenery. The average price for Pearl Jam tickets to the two shows at Barclay’s in October are 36% higher than the bands last two shows at MSG in 2010.

Billy Joel once called Madison Square Garden the center of the universe, and there’s no question that despite nominal competition from Nassau and Newark, nothing could ever really compete—until now. Brooklyn, with its hipsters and thriving music scene is a fitting location for the country’s top grossing music venue. When it comes to sports, however, the Garden will remain king--at least until 2015. That’s when the Islanders take up residence alongside the Nets and bring hockey to Brooklyn. For now, though, the Rangers and Knicks give The Garden twice as many sporting events as Barclays, and gross ticketing revenue will extend their reign in the world of sports. Even when the Islanders move west, though, it’s likely the Garden will not relinquish its supremacy in sports. Despite the novelty of their first season in Brooklyn, prices for Nets tickets couldn’t compete with Knicks tickets. At an average price of $287 on the secondary market, it cost almost a $100 more, on average, to see a basketball game at The Garden than the House that Jay-Z built. New York Rangers tickets are also amongst the highest priced in the NHL and it is yet to be seen how Brooklyn will respond to the Islanders. The Garden also hosts several large sporting events annually. In 2014, those will include the East Regionals of the NCAA tournament and the Professional Bull Riders MSG Invitational. That kind of volume will make it an uphill battle for Barclays to challenge The Garden in the arena of sports.

Perhaps the final stage of the Garden’s billion-dollar renovation will again make it a must-visit destination to rival Barclays in music. It may, however, require that the Dolans--or whoever is running MSG in 2023— just start over. After last week’s vote by the New York City Council that’s exactly what might happen. By a count of 47-1, the Council told The World’s Most Famous Arena that they must vacate the premises in 10 years to make way for a new and improved Penn Station. That means that a new Madison Square Garden is likely to be arriving just as Barclays is starting to show some wear around its tenth birthday. The move would be the fifth in Madison Square Garden’s history, and while it would surely be lamented by fans and the media, it could be the fresh start that MSG needs to reclaim it’s place at the center of the entertainment universe.